


Dark Tides

by homohomu (Rorb_Lalorb)



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Horror, Supernatural Elements, Trans Female Character, yoshiko is trans you can not stop me this is true
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:35:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29525814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rorb_Lalorb/pseuds/homohomu
Summary: Yoshiko has been searching for evidence of the supernatural for a long long time. Since she was a baby basically. And her search has finally borne fruit! Uchiura, the town most popular as the setting of numerous scary stories online, has to have something going on in the background. Right?
Relationships: Sakurauchi Riko/Tsushima Yoshiko, Takami Chika/Watanabe You, YohaRiko is the main ship but the others will be there
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	1. Yoshiko has fun in the woods

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this idea has stuck me and will not leave no matter what so here it is. Inspired in part by Katalepsis, an excellent web serial about cosmic horror lesbians you should totally read. Though I'm not aiming to make this quite as scary as Katalepsis. Or as violent. But we'll see.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoshiko goes to school in hope of making new friends! She fails at this task before she even starts.

When asked by her mom why she was so insistent on going to a school in some rural town, Yoshiko took only a second to come up with a believable reason. Spinning a tale of a sad and lonely child wishing to go to someplace where her reputation as a weirdo wouldn't affect her, turned out to work quite well in convincing her mom. Maybe that was because it wasn't  _ entirely  _ untrue. But that wasn't the real reason! No, Yoshiko had a much more interesting and exciting reason to go to Uranohoshi Girls' High School. 

Uchiura, the town that held Yoshiko's soon-to-be high school, was rumoured to be absolutely packed full of the supernatural! Tales, coming from both tourists and residents, of close encounters with terrifying creatures and cults worshipping eldritch things, all claiming to be experienced in the small town of Uchiura were absolutely everywhere in the… admittedly stranger parts of the internet that Yoshiko frequented. She lost track of the amount of times she had seen the town’s name while scrolling through forums and image boards when she didn’t want to do school work. 

This all led to one of Yoshiko's greatest ideas yet, surpassing even her streaming career which somehow was her only source of income! Yoshiko would go to Uranohoshi and create her own club. The occult research club! It was utterly brilliant, a plan only someone as wise and intelligent as the great Yohane could come up with of course. It would mean she'd be in a club that would attract like-minded people, solving Yoshiko's current problem of having zero friends. It would allow her to properly explore and find out how many of the tales of monsters and worse were true. And maybe Yohane would gain access to more of the powers sealed away when she was cast out of heaven by god himself. (And also the school was an all-girl school, so Yoshiko would most definitely get to see some cute girls. But that was just a bonus.) 

But that was all the best case scenario and Yohane was nothing if not unlucky, so she tempered her expectations. It was entirely possible that she would end up, once again, the school weirdo and get bullied for it. But well, that wouldn’t really be much of a change to her life, so really she could only gain things form this endeavour. Or at least that is what Yoshiko had to repeatedly tell herself as she sat in the bus, on her way to the first day of her high school life. 

Yoshiko had succeeded in somehow both hyping herself up and becoming more and more anxious during the 20-minute bus ride to school. Stepping off the bus, Yoshiko looked around at the crowds of girls walking this way and that, outside the school. There was still a few minutes until classes started, something many of the school’s clubs were taking advantage of by advertising to the student body. As Yoshiko saw the scene taking place in front of her, she had a genius idea. Speeding her way to the nearest tree, much to the chagrin of the people she bumped into on the way there, Yoshiko climbed up the tree and made herself comfortable on one of the branches. 

In her new position above everyone else, Yoshiko was able to see everyone much more clearly. As she looked at the crowd of girls, Yoshiko made snap judgments on how much effort it would take to recruit each girl. Most of them seemed to be too normal for them to be a good fit within Yoshiko’s occult research club, something that was slightly disappointing to the girl. You would think that the residents of a town with so much supernatural lore would seem more into the supernatural, but well maybe the fact that there wasn’t already a club dedicated to the supernatural should have clued Yoshiko into the fact that the people here were utterly normal.

“Hey! Whatcha doing in that tree?” Yoshiko jumped at the voice yelling below her. Of course, jumping while in a tree was not the smartest idea unless you wanted to get out of the tree quickly. Yoshiko let out a yelp and fell straight down, onto whoever it was that had spoken. Yoshiko, dazed by her fall, stayed on top of who ever this unfortunate person was. A cough, coming from her left, startled her again, causing Yoshiko to jump up and off of her seat, who let out a small groan at the removal of weight on her. 

Yoshiko spun around and saw the girl she had fallen onto, as well as another girl, who seemed to be failing at stopping herself from laughing. Yoshiko grimaced, looked around, saw that no one was really paying much attention to them, and let out a sigh. That would most definitely make her seem like a weirdo, so she was glad that people weren’t paying attention. Bringing her eyes back on the two strangers, the girl with silver hair helping the one with orange stand up again, Yoshiko was a bit annoyed at the fact that not only had she landed on someone, she landed on someone who was really rather pretty and had a friend that was also super attractive. Oh well, it wasn’t like she could make them dislike her more, so Yoshiko decided to practice her pitch on them. Who knew, maybe they would even join the club. Yoshiko needed five members to make it an official club, and while she didn’t  _ really _ care if it was official or not the funding would be nice.

Clearing her throat and striking her, well at least she thought it was, signature pose, Yohane spoke, “I am the great Yohane, a fallen angle, cast out of heaven for possessing beauty which surpassed god’s own. You may be wondering why such a powerful and great person such as myself would bother wasting her time at a school such as this when she already has more knowledge than every student combined? Well my little demons, let me enlighten you! The great Yohane has come here, not for the school, but to discover the secrets of this town. Have either of you ever stumbled across something strange and unexplainable?” Yoshiko looked at them for a second, and just as the girl with orange hair was about to speak, she interrupted. “Of course you have, you live in Uchiura, do you not?” The two girls nodded, slowly, confusion clear on their faces. “Well, then you are in luck, as I, the great Yohane, is going to be starting a club just perfect for you! The occult research club is needing of members, and the both of you seem like perfect fits!” 

Having finished her speech, Yoshiko realized that she most definitely got a bit, well actually more like way too much, into it. She cursed her bad luck, she was sure if she was in a more normal situation that didn’t involve her falling off of a tree, she would be able to properly pitch the club. Judging by the looks on the two girls’ faces, it seemed likely that she had messed up.

“Yohane?....” Yoshiko spun around and oh satan her luck was really really bad. The absolute last person she wanted to see was standing behind her, alongside some redhead that looked scared. Hanamaru stood there, confusion clear on her face, as if she was trying to figure out a puzzle. Which she most definitely was, as the last time Yoshiko and Hanamaru had seen each other, Yoshiko was a boy who wasn’t named Yoshiko. If only she hadn’t introduced herself as Yohane she wouldn’t be in this situation at all. As realization dawned on Hanamaru’s face, Yoshiko did the most reasonable thing she could do, and booked it away from the school, right as the bell rang. 

Ignoring the shouts from behind her, Yoshiko ran as fast as her unfit body could carry her. After a few minutes of running, she slowed down and peeked over her shoulder. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that they hadn’t followed her. She wasn’t all that far from the school, and could easily go back and head to class, but she honestly wasn’t really feeling it. This year was shaping up to be a headache for sure. She hoped Hanamaru would keep the fact that Yoshiko was trans to herself, and she probably would, but the fact that anyone knew soured her mood immensely. Especially after her entire middle school experience. 

In the end, Yoshiko decided to just skip today, letting future Yoshiko deal with the problems of tomorrow. She’d spend today exploring the town, and maybe if she was lucky, unlikely as that may be, she would find something paranormal. It was a fairly nice spring day, all things considered, not to warm and not to cold and there was just the perfect amount of clouds in the sky. Yoshiko wondered through the small town, taking in the sights. She was planning on spending a lot of time in the town, so scouting it out today was actually an incredibly smart idea. 

The idea started to seem less smart after blindly wandering around for an hour. The town at least looked nice, but there wasn’t a lot for a teenager skipping school to really do. Maybe she should have gone back home and changed out of her school uniform first, but as it was, Yoshiko was just too anxious to go into any store or café. Instead, she just wandered around the town. At the second hour mark, Yoshiko remembered something. There was a forest on the edge of town, prominently featured in many of the stories she had read about the town. It wasn’t even that far of a walk from where she was right now. She could go there, explore some, and then leave and eat her lunch. 

Yohane set out towards the woods. Arriving at the woods presented Yoshiko at her first problem. There was a fence, covered with signs with all sorts of writing on them, all essentially  saying one thing; Keep Out. Yoshiko was sure she could climb over the fence, but well this was a spooky and most likely haunted forest she was going into, she’d much rather have a quicker way of getting in and out then climbing. Just in case. It didn’t take her long, thankfully. Behind a sign, maybe 6 minutes from where Yoshiko first arrived at the woods, was a hole. It was just about big enough for Yoshiko, though she would probably have to leave her bag on this side. Still, it was a quicker way in than climbing. 

Dropping her bag on the floor, Yoshiko pushed the sign over slightly, thanking satan that the sign wasn’t all that heavy, so she had better access to the hole in the fence. Sticking her arms through the circular hole first, Yoshiko braced herself against the floor and slowly, and carefully, climbed through. The hole’s edges were sharp, but Yoshiko was, for once, lucky enough that nothing was ripped or teared. 

On the other side of the fence, it was clear that this forest was… rather gloomy, if Yoshiko had to pick a word. The trees near her were all spread out, leaving plenty of room inbetween them for Yoshiko to move around but looking deeper into the forest, it seemed that the trees were getting closer, leaving very little space between them. Not to mention it being incredibly dark inside the forest. It definitely seemed worthy of being the setting of such stories as, “The creature in the woods” and “Don’t go into the dusk”, two of Yoshiko’s personal favourites. 

Walking straight forward seemed to be the best idea, as it would mean she would just need to walk straight back. On and on Yoshiko walked, as the space around her slowly became more and more tightened. The only sound, the whisper of the wind, filled the air, but soon that too disappeared. All that was left was the sound of Yoshiko’s footsteps and her breathing. When that was gone Yoshiko started running. It was dark, too too dark, unnaturally so and maybe this was a bad idea and oh, but she needed to keep going what if there was something just past the edge of her vision, something that would prove that she wasn’t a weirdo or at least that if she was a weirdo she was a correct weirdo there had to be something- 

She was in a clearing. Light shone down, illuminating the water of the small lake that lay inside this one patch of grass, no suffocating trees, a brief respite. She needed water, her mouth so dry she was sure she would die if she didn’t drink. So drink she did, stumbling her way to the waters edge and scooping up water with her hands. The water was cold so terribly cold that she felt as if all the warmth natural to the human body would be gone when she was done with this single sip, but she needed it, she could feel herself becoming stronger as the water touched her tongue. 

Yoshiko collapsed onto the grass behind her. This wasn’t normal none of this was normal, and she was sure this was proof enough that the world wasn’t just shaped by faceless men in suits making abstract decisions about where to put their money, that there were more things in this world to discover and learn about. That she was right. 

Of course, none of that would matter if she died here, something that seemed to slowly be becoming a more and more possible outcome. The sudden return of sound inside the small clearing was not at all soothing to Yoshiko’s nerves, if anything it unnerved her more. She stood up and looked around the clearing more carefully, before moving slowly towards where she entered the clearing. She was afraid to go back through, she was sure these woods were doing something to her, but it was the only way out, so she braced herself and tried to calm herself down. 

Then came the wind chimes. The sound was undoubtedly beautiful, dulcet tones that spoke of the things the wind could provide, if only she stayed and listened. It terrified Yoshiko more than anything she had ever heard. It was a primal fear, something deep within her telling her that she did not want this, no matter how tempting, no matter what she was offered. 

Yoshiko ran, this time consumed with utter panic, the sounds of the wind chimes getting closer and closer to her as she ran, the trees were twisting towards each other trying to block her and keep her in the forest forever, but she ran past and through the small gaps between, tripping on roots that weren’t there before, mind utterly consumed by the panic that was overwhelming her. Her breathing was ragged, thankfully drowning out the noise of the chimes, perhaps saving Yoshiko’s mind from the worst of it. And then fence came into view and Yoshiko screamed a scream of pure joy as she pushed herself through the hole in the fence, ignoring the sounds of clothes being ripped. On the other side, Yoshiko immediately moved the sign to cover the hole in its entirety and grabbed her bag, before running as far as she could before she collapsed. 

The first thought that came to her mind, for once she heard the chimes, it had only been instinct that guided her, was that she would be sore from the running tonight. And that she would need to repair her school uniform. The mundanity of the thoughts caused her to burst out into laughter, which she very quickly regretted as her everything was hurting. She breathed in and out slowly, and got up and inspected her clothing. Her socks her utterly ripped up and her shoes were covered in mud, but thankfully the rest of her uniform wasn’t that badly off. Only a few tears were on her blouse and her skirt was untouched, save for the dirt that seemed to be covering all of her clothing. The worst was probably the small cuts running down her legs, as Yoshiko most definitely did not want them to get infected with whatever germs lived within those woods. And, finally, a touching her hair revealed that the reason it felt like her head was heavier was because her hair was somehow filled with twigs and leaves and her bun had undone itself. 

Once, this would have greatly upset Yohane, as her bun was conduit for her powers as a fallen angel. Now however, she had to admit that her powers as a fallen angel, whatever few she did  _ actually _ have, were probably not going to be able to help her out. And she was pretty sure she wouldn’t actually need a bun for those. Not that she would change up her style mind you, she looked absolutely amazing with that bun, she was sure of it. 

After a few more minutes of sitting around and recovering whatever energy she had, Yoshiko finally stood up. Stretching seemed like the smart thing to do, so Yoshiko stretched like how she remembered she was supposed to do in her gym class, before she started skipping that completely. It ached terribly so, but she was pretty sure it would be worse if she didn’t stretch. 

Maybe. Done with the stretches, Yoshiko made her way back into the town and walk until she found the nearest bus stop. A bus stop that was in front of a pier that had a great view of the ocean, which Yoshiko appreciated greatly. She would have to remove some pictures of dark woods from her wallpaper file. Were there any images of scary oceans? Yoshiko shook her head and started on her lunch. 

The hunger gnawed at her, it had been an exhausting day, and she hadn’t had anything to eat since the morning, and it was… 1pm according to her phone. Shit. She must have been in those woods for a good hour then. Maybe even two. Thankfully, her lunch was as good as usual, covered in a good heaping of tabasco sauce that made it just perfect. Chowing down her lunch was honestly the highlight of today, as there was nothing trying to kill her, and she had a great view.

Wait… that was strange. A girl, long red hair flowing behind her, stood on the pier, a pier that was empty a minute ago. Yoshiko couldn’t make out any of her features, as well the girl was looking into the ocean. As the girl started to walk towards the edge of the pier, Yoshiko felt her heart sink. Was… how likely was it that there was something similar to the… the… the thing in the forest in the ocean. It was unlikely right? There was no way, the forest was out of the way, and you could only really get there if you tried, but the ocean was right there always there for anyone to see. The girl hadn’t stopped moving. She was closer to the edge of the pier now. Before Yoshiko could think anymore, she jumped up and ran, shouting out sentences that were probably sounded like gibberish. The girl jumped and turned around and Yoshiko was greeted by the visage of an angel. 

She was beautiful. Incredibly so, much more so than anyone else Yoshiko had every seen. Their eyes met and Yoshiko saw gold. Her golden eyes, widened in surprise, were bewitching and alluring and a hundred other synonyms for beautiful, and Yoshiko knew she could stare into them endlessly. Of course, a second later, Yoshiko crashed into her and they both tumbled down onto the pier. 

A short scream, followed by a thud, and Yoshiko was on top of her second person today. And this time her face was in the boobs of someone she most definitely was crushing on before she even heard her speak. Really, she was most definitely being directly fucked with by god today. Rolling off of her, Yoshiko got up and helped the girl stand to her feet, all the while spouting apology after apology. 

Once on her own feet, the girl glared at Yoshiko, a glare which quickly disappeared after she took in Yoshiko’s… battle damaged appearance. “Oh my are you okay?” And oh satan her voice was utterly captivating and maybe a siren would be a better comparison than an angel. Yoshiko stared dumbly at the girl, taking a few seconds to comprehend her words, and then spoke. “Oh ho ho, the great Yohane is never not okay. O-or I mean better than okay.” Well it seemed that even Yohane didn’t give Yoshiko enough confidence to lie about how she was while she was covered in mud and dirt and scratches. 

“I’ve, uh, had a  _ long _ day.” The girl looked like she believed it, as she helped Yoshiko back towards the bench where her forgotten lunch sat. Sitting down next to her, the girl seemed like she wanted to ask a lot of questions, which was only far with what Yoshiko looking like the swamp thing. “Uh… Yohane right?” Yoshiko chugged some water from her water bottle, before wiping her lips on her sleeve and responding. “It’s, uh, Yoshiko. Yohane is uh… a persona you know?” The girl most definitely did not know but well that was probably fine. 

“Well, my name is Riko. It’s, um, nice to meet you. Though perhaps it would have been better if it was under different circumstances.” Yoshiko couldn’t help but laugh at that, and so she did. She laughed and laughed until she was crying into Riko’s side. Riko, and Yoshiko would be eternally grateful for this, patted Yoshiko on the back. 

Honestly Riko must be some kind of saint, doing this much for a random stranger who looked like the final girl in a horror movie, a stranger who had just ran into you out of nowhere while shouting gibberish. And so Yoshiko felt like she at least owed it to Riko to explain what had happened to her and why she was even in this town in the first place. Well, Yoshiko did skip over some parts, such as why she really ran from school, she didn’t like Hanamaru knowing she was trans and there was no way in hell she was going to come out to someone who was basically a complete stranger. Even if the stranger was incredibly kind. And attractive. 

The story was, well, much shorter than how long it took to experience everything, but Yoshiko stumbled and had to start and stop, and she was only just able to describe the wind chimes without bursting into sobs, so it at least took half an hour to get through. The experience was somewhat cathartic, admittedly, and Riko was a great listener. Upon finishing her tale, Yoshiko remembered the whole reason she had ran into Riko. “Riko, you uh didn’t hear anything strange from the water right?” Riko looked at Yoshiko confused for a second, before realization dawned on her. “N-no… nothing like that. I was just…. I’m a pianist.” Riko stopped speaking, as if that somehow answered Yoshiko’s question, so Yoshiko just looked at her. 

Riko let out a sigh and smiled at Yoshiko, which Yoshiko could swear made her heart do a flip, before looking back out into the ocean. “I… I came to this town because it’s by the ocean. I’ve been having… well it’s two things really. I’ve been in a writer’s block when it comes to composing, and I thought hearing the sounds of the ocean might help me. And I guess this is silly, but I was planning on going into the water if standing near it and listening didn’t help.” 

A pianist! Yoshiko had always admired the piano for its wide range of sounds. It was perhaps her favourite instrument. But, Riko had said it was two things that had brought her here and Yoshiko hoped the other was a happier thing than being unable to compose. “I hope you get out of your block soon.” Yoshiko offered Riko one of her famous, or at least Yoshiko thought they should be famous, smiles, before continuing on, “But you said you were here because of two things, right?” 

Riko looked at Yoshiko then, eyes narrowing for a second, before relaxing slightly. “I… yes. And I really shouldn’t be saying this because you’ll think I’m crazy. But I have been having dreams every night of the same thing, something in the water of this town, deep deep down. And it’s like its calling me to it. And I’m terrified, and I know it will take me and never return me, but I’m still drawn to it. And there is nothing I can do. And it’s the same dream every night. The exact same it has to mean something, and maybe I’m I’m an idiot, a fool for coming here, b-but I  _ can’t  _ stop myself. And-and.” Riko’s shaking intensified as she spoke, and Yoshiko decided to return the favour from earlier, and gave Riko a hug. Riko, Yoshiko decided, was good to hug. And the girl wasn’t really hugging back, it was just Yoshiko doing the hugging, but it still felt good! 

Once the shaking had subsided, Yoshiko, sadly and with great regret, pulled away from from Riko and looked her in the eyes. “I do not think you are crazy. I’m pretty sure it’s just that there is some elder god or something in the water, and it’s trying to lure you in. W-which admittedly sounds really bad and hard to deal with. But!” Yoshiko trailed off, Riko’s smile was incredibly distracting. She was pretty sure her cheeks were red now, but Yoshiko soldiered on. “But if we know what we are dealing with, we can beat it! Hell, I beat that, the wind chimes…. Yeah! I got out of there, and it’s very clear to me that this town is not normal or maybe there’s supernatural stuff everywhere, and it’s good at hiding or something, but it’s very very very clear to me that you are not crazy.” 

Yoshiko was suddenly hit with an idea that might be bad, but also she was on a roll right now so why the hell not and Riko was smiling oh so brightly and, “You should join my club!” Riko’s smile stayed on her face, but it was joined confusion once again, an expression Riko seemed to wear often. “The one I talked about… the whole reason I’m going to school here. The Occult research club. Together, the fallen angel Yohane and the siren Riri will be able to combat the forces of evil that plague this town.” Riko giggled, a sound which was in the top ten sounds Yoshiko had ever heard. “Riri? And a siren? Really? I don’t think I’m particularly good at singing or drowning sailors.” 

Yoshiko couldn’t stop the blush from appearing on her face. “R-riri is a good name. Right?” At Riko’s nod and smile, Yoshiko continued with more energy, “And it’s a name fitting for a siren that stands alongside the great Yohane. And well, um, you're a siren cause, um…. youarereallypretty.” Riko’s smile grew even wider, and she opened her mouth to speak- “Yohane! What happened to you?” Turning around, Yoshiko saw the orange haired girl she had fallen onto of what was only a handful of hours ago but felt like ages, concern clear as day on her face and in her voice. “It’s Yoshiko, actually. And I…” turning to look at Riko, and with a smile on her face, Yoshiko finished, “have had a very very  _ long _ day.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope riko doesn't seem too ooc. this is the first thing ive written and published somewhere in years. and it's also gonna be the first multi chapter fic ive ever written. wish me luck!


	2. Enter Chika Takami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoshiko gets a well deserved night of rest.

It turned out that the orange haired girl had a name. One Chika Takami, the youngest daughter of the owner of a local inn, known for the fact that its pleasant hot springs had a view of the ocean. Or at least that was what Chika herself had said it was known for, neither Riko nor Yoshiko were familiar enough with the town to know otherwise. Chika was also incredibly kind, or at the very least, nicer than Yoshiko had ever been to another person. Upon seeing Yoshiko looking like she was dropped into a mud bath, Chika had all but dragged the girl into her house, and shoved her into the bathroom with a change of clothes and a towel.

The bath would go down as another highlight of the day, that was for sure. Hot water was wonderful at relieving stress and tension. And soaking in hot water seemed to make it only more effective. It was only when her skin started to prune, that Yoshiko got out of the bath.

Hair wet from the bath, Yoshiko’s attempts to brush her hair and get all the little twigs and crushed up leaves out of it was unsuccessful. She let out a sigh as she gazed at her reflection in the bathroom’s tiny mirror. She at least looked presentable now, no longer looking like some rip off swamp thing. Her hair would need to be brushed a few more times, but she could do that later. Thankfully, Chika’s bathroom was stocked with disinfectant and bandages, and Yoshiko took advantage of that fact to clean up her wounds.

Yoshiko was certain she looked like some sort of anime character with her legs bandaged haphazardly. Maybe it would look good paired with one of her fallen angel dresses she wore for her streams sometimes. Leaving the bathroom after another once over, Yoshiko made her way over to Chika’s room, where both Riko and Chika were waiting for her. Chika was busy telling Riko some story about something or other, so Yoshiko made herself comfortable and sat down next to Riko.

A quick glance at her phone told her the time. 4:30 pm. She really should get going soon, but she was sure that Chika would want to, at the very least, ask her where she had ran off too. It really had been a long day for Yoshiko, she was still exhausted after the bath and was honestly looking forward to passing out in her bed. Yawning, Yoshiko cupped her chin in her hand to prevent her head from lolling off to the side. Chika’s story was soon complete, it’s end announced by Riko’s beautiful laughter. Yoshiko felt a spike of jealousy but quickly buried it. There was never any point in getting jealous over these things, it wasn’t like Yoshiko had any chances.

Soon after Chika’s story was done, she asked Yoshiko the question Yoshiko had been waiting for. “So, what happened to you, Yoshiko.” Yoshiko sighed, Chika had a very pretty voice, and answered with a question. “Do you know about the forest to the... west of the town?” Chika’s mouth opened, closed, opened again, and closed, before the girl simply nodded. “I found a hole in the fencing and went through it.” Chika’s face paled, and that told Yoshiko everything she needed to know.

Chika stood up and made her way over to her desk, rummaging through the drawers for something. Eventually she found it, her phone, and started to tap away while explaining what she was doing. “I need to tell a friend about the hole. There really really shouldn’t be a hole in the fence.” Chika’s voice was distraught in a way that Yoshiko wouldn’t have taught the normally upbeat and cheery girl could sound. Well, maybe not, it wasn’t like Yoshiko really knew anything about the girl.

After a few minutes of tense silence, Chika sighed, and broke the tension. “It’ll get fixed soon enough. Kanan, my friend, knows one of the Oharas I think. But, um, it’s kind of worrying that there’s a hole there in the first place, no? I’ve never been inside the forest, Kanan would never let me do something like that, but I know that there's… a lot of weird shit in there.” Chika giggled, some of her cheer returning to her after the confirmation that something would be done about the hole.

“Is it really that… bad?” Riko did not seem reassured at all, probably regretting coming to this town for the second, maybe third, time today. “I… I don’t know. Kanan didn’t really tell me much about it. We’ve been friends forever, and I know she knows more about some of the… weirder stuff around town, but she says it’s best if we, me and You, don’t get involved. She really wouldn’t like your club idea, Yoshiko.” That woke Yoshiko right up, and she was about to start arguing but Chika’s smile stopped her, and then the orange haired girl continued. “I actually think the idea is really great. I was wondering if you still were accepting members.” Yoshiko blushed and nodded her head furiously before composing herself and then Yohane was the one to speak.

“The great fallen angel Yohane will accept you into her army of little demons as her third in command.” Chika looked slightly surprised. “Third? I thought it was just me and you so far?” Yohane smirked, “You are incorrect, my little demon, my second in command is none other than the legendary siren, Riri, her grace and beauty will guide us through our long and perilous campaigns.” Both of the other girls were blushing now, but Yohane was getting too into it to notice, “And our first adventure of unending danger and potentially even greater reward will be to find out the cause of the mysterious entrance into the dark forest. With the three of us together, we will be unmatched in our might and defeat all who oppose us with ease. This is the promise the fallen angel, Yohane, makes to the both of you.” Yoshiko finished by striking her signature pose, watching her audience, giddy to see their reactions.

“I never said I would join, you know.” Yoshiko’s pose crumbled, and she fell to her knees, hands clasped together. “You have to, please, I promised to,” she quickly glanced at Chika before looking back at Riko, “help with your thing right so you gotta join the club and be my second in command, it's not gonna w-.” Riko’s laughter cut Yoshiko off, and for a second Yoshiko’s heart dropped, and she was terrified that she had fucked up somehow, but Riko was wearing a kind smile on her face and her laugh didn’t have a bit of malice in it. “I’m kidding. I’ll join and be the great Yohane’s right-hand woman.” Riko finished with a flourish, her attempt at imitating Yoshiko’s signature pose almost unbearably cute.

…

For once in her life, Yoshiko was feeling incredibly hopeful about the future. She had done it! Her club had two members and maybe even more people would join. Her first day of high school and she had even more friends than she had during the entirety of her middle school experience. Or well maybe not friends just yet but definitely people who could become friends. And well, traumatic experiences with wind chimes aside, the fact that the supernatural was real was amazing… and also world shattering.

Riko’s dream was certainly troubling, the implications unnerving to anyone who knew the definition of the word Lovecraftian, but well maybe it wasn’t as bad as Yoshiko feared it might be. She wasn’t going to break her promise to Riko, that was for sure. No matter what, she would figure out a way to deal with… whatever it was that had invaded Riko’s dreams.

It was hard to notice at first, what with Yoshiko’s generally state of exhaustion intermixed with panic, but it was clear to Yoshiko that the dreams had taken their toll on Riko. It was only at Chika’s home, after Riko had officially joined the club and Chika’s mom called them down for dinner, that Yoshiko noticed how deep the bags under the girl’s eyes were. Riko smiled and answered the few questions Chika’s mom had for the both of them, but it seemed, at least to Yoshiko, that the red head was deeply tired. Riko was not getting many hours of sleep, that was for sure. Yoshiko didn’t know how to ask or even if she should, and fortunately the choice was taken away from her.

Chika seemed to be a natural at lightening the atmosphere, something Yoshiko found herself incredibly grateful for, so they were able to move on from the events of the day and onto lighter things. At least Riko seemed to enjoy it. Chika offered them some tangerines and then regaled the two with stories of her own life that were seemingly random in order, until Yoshiko had almost fallen asleep. Riko excused herself saying that she lived close by, while Chika decided that she wouldn’t let Yoshiko leave tonight. Yoshiko was too tired to argue, so one quick text to her mom later, Yoshiko was having her first sleepover. It wasn’t much of a sleepover, considering Yoshiko promptly passed out as soon as she touched the bed, but she was sure she would remember it fondly in the future.

…

It was past midnight when Yoshiko woke up. Chika’s bed, for Yoshiko had fallen asleep in the poor girl’s bed before a futon could be dragged into the room, was nice and warm. A bed worthy of an inn. The piano playing began to get louder and more frantic, and Yoshiko realized why she had woken up. That and the dream. A quick glance to the floor showed that Chika was still asleep, the piano unable to wake her. Yoshiko slowly and carefully made her way out of bed and towards the balcony, where it seemed like the piano was coming from.

As she got onto the balcony, the piano stopped completely. Only the wind could be heard. Yoshiko shivered. She looked at the building right across from her, the source of the piano. Yoshiko wondered if she should say something, but then the music started up once again. It was slower this time. Much softer and gentler than the frantic almost panicked playing that woke Yoshiko up. Yoshiko couldn’t recognize the song, but it was good. Incredible even. But it slowly sped up, the wrong note would be played, and it would start to descend into the panicked playing of before.

Yoshiko simply stood in silence, hearing the cycle repeat again and again. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t say anything. Maybe she was afraid too. Maybe she didn’t want to interrupt the cycle. Perhaps she even enjoyed it. It didn’t matter. Yoshiko made her way back into Chika’s bed, once again making sure the energetic girl was asleep, before laying back down. It took an hour or two for the piano to stop completely. Yoshiko did not sleep anymore that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if I'm not giving the other girls enough dialogue and giving Yoshiko too much, but its whatever. I'm also a bit worried that Chika seemed ooc in this chapter, but hopefully ill get a better grasp on her character the more i write. I hope you enjoyed this, I certainly enjoyed writing it. Also, do tell me if I've made any typos or the like, I'm really bad at noticing them.


	3. Enter You Watanabe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoshiko's first actual day of school is surprisingly good. Until it isn't. (And also You is cool.)

The vast majority of Yoshiko did not want to go to school today. She went anyways. Chika had a spare uniform, one of her older sisters had kept hers, so Yoshiko couldn’t use her damaged uniform as an excuse. And Chika’s repeated insistence that she go to school, all said with a bright smile, beat down any other possible excuses Yoshiko had. Curse her weakness against cute girls. 

The bus ride to the school was filled with Chika talking about who knows what, while Yoshiko tried to get even a minute or two of sleep. She somehow succeeded and was able to sleep for a good five minutes before the bus arrived at school, and Chika shook her awake. Chika’s friend from yesterday, god did that feel long ago, was named You apparently, if Chika’s exclamation was to be believed. The two chatted like, well, like old friends, which Yoshiko supposed they probably were.

You sent Yoshiko a look Yoshiko didn't understand, before asking her question. “So… where have you been, Yohane? Your friend, Hanamaru, was pretty worried about you.” That made Yoshiko feel strange. Did Hanamaru say they were friends? “I, uh, got lost. In the woods. For a little bit.”

“The woods, oh jeez. Kanan always said to stay out of those.” You seemed surprised, and Chika joined in, telling You how she had found Yoshiko yesterday. Yoshiko let the two talk and kept quiet. She was honestly slightly intimidated by You. The girl looked very attractive, and her arms were very well toned. She was most definitely an athlete of some sort, and Yoshiko had a lot of experience trying to keep her head down around jocks and the like. The popular kids were definitely not welcoming to Yoshiko, that was for sure.

As they walked the short way to the school, Yoshiko wondered how she was gonna deal with the Hanamaru situation. Just talking to the girl would be the smartest thing to do, but Yoshiko really did not want to. Sighing, Yoshiko and the other girls entered the school and they Yoshiko spilt off from the other two, making her way to where her classroom should be. She found it before the bell rang and made her way to the back of the room, hoping against hope that the teacher wouldn’t say anything about her absence yesterday.

Instead of the teacher walking in that very moment and asking Yoshiko to introduce herself in front of the class or something else that was bad and fitting of Yoshiko’s luck, Hanamaru was the one to walk in. As well as Hanamaru’s friend with the red hair and pig tails. Hanamaru said nothing but sat nearby Yoshiko, in the seat in front of her, and her friend followed with a small yelp.

Yoshiko stared at the back of Hanamaru’s head. Eventually, Hanamaru turned around and spoke. “We can talk at lunch.” Yoshiko nodded, the only thing stopping her from running out of the room being the fact that Hanamaru had a smile on her face. The teacher walked in soon afterward and took attendance. She made no mention of the fact that Yoshiko hadn’t been in school yesterday, and then classes started.

It was right then that Yoshiko remembered that she had neither Riko’s or Chika’s phone number, and therefore no way of contacting either of them. How were they going to hold their very first club meeting now? Yoshiko looked at the clock, there was still a long time till lunch began.

…

Lunch finally came around, and Yoshiko followed Hanamaru and her friend to the school’s rooftop. Yoshiko was very curious as to why the red head was with them, but she didn’t say anything about it. Once upon the rooftop, Yoshiko was very quickly engulfed in a hug by the two.

“I’m glad to see you again, zura.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Zuramaru.” And Yoshiko meant it.

“Did you actually choose Yohane? For your name I mean, zura.” The hug broke apart as Hanamaru asked the question, a smile on her lips.

Yoshiko blushed. “N-no. My, ah, mom wouldn’t let me use that. I’m honestly a little bit glad. It’s, ah, Yoshiko. But I won’t mind if you keep on calling me Yohane.” Yoshiko looked over at the red head, a question on her lips, but the girl in question beat her too it.

“I’m the same as you!” Immediately realizing she spoke a bit loudly, the girl in question blushed red, and oh wow her whole face was red. That was almost impressive actually.

This was the first time Yoshiko met someone else who was trans, in person at least, and she was very much feeling giddy. But as much as she wanted to spend some time talking to Hanamaru and Ruby, as the girl introduced herself as a moment later, she also had her duty as the head of the occult research club. Yoshiko felt a grin form on her face as she came up with an absolutely devilish plan.

“Are the either of you perchance in any clubs?” At the shaking of their heads, Yoshiko continued, “Well, how about the two of you follow me while I grab the other two members of my prestigious club.” Before they could say anything, Yoshiko started walking and the other two girls quickly started following her, questions of what club Yoshiko was running, questions that Yoshiko answered with a smile and a promise that once the whole club was together, she would explain.

It thankfully didn’t take Yoshiko that long to find Chika and Riko, as well as You who had decided to come along as well. Apparently all three were in the same class as well, a slightly strange coincidence to be honest, but Yoshiko was not one to doubt the small bits of good luck that came her way. Chika said she knew a good empty club room they could take, so the orange haired girl led all six of them there.

The club room was quite large, surprisingly, and Yoshiko started to wonder if she should set up a ritual circle in the club room. Maybe later. Once, inside, Yoshiko turned her attention to the two girls who had followed her here. She wondered if she should be normal for a second, but this was a club dedicated to the supernatural. Yohane was the prefect fit for it really

“I, Yohane, the great fallen angel, cast out of heaven for having beauty that surpassed god’s own, invite the two of you to join the occult research club. We will discover the secrets behind the monsters that stalk the dark and make their homes within the nightmares of mankind.” Yoshiko posed, trying to gauge the girls’ reactions. Hanamaru seemed to be enjoying the show but Ruby… she looked worried. Very worried actually, her face was very pale. Yoshiko paused her performance and looked at Ruby. “Are you alright, Ruby?”

“I don’t think this is a good idea. My sister won’t approve of this.” That was all Ruby said before she ran out of the room.

…

The club meeting continued on a lowed note. Yoshiko tried to talk about the creature that they were supposed to be looking into, or whatever it was that made the hole in the fencing around the forest, but then Hanamaru excused herself to go find Ruby, so it was just Yoshiko and the three first years and Yoshiko wasn’t sure if it was the best time to talk about that. Yoshiko was a little bit surprised that You had decided to stick around, and asked the girl why?

“Well, if Chika is gonna be in this, and she seemed pretty insistent, I’m gonna join to make sure she doesn’t get into _too_ much trouble.” Yoshiko could tell that there was more. Maybe. She wasn’t the best at reading people most of the time, but she didn’t buy that as You’s only motivation for joining.

“Do you know who Ruby’s sister is?” Riko voiced the question that Yoshiko was thinking.

Chika and You shook their heads and Yoshiko shrugged. “Maybe she’s some big shot in the town or something?” You wondered out loud.

“She is the student council president.” Yoshiko yelped and turned around. The other girls turned around with significantly more grace. Standing in the room’s doorway was a girl with long black hair and an incredibly stern expression on her face. Behind her stood Hanamaru, an apologetic look on her face, and Ruby, who kept her face pointed towards the ground.

“I would have thought two of Kanan’s friends would know enough to not be involved with this, but it seems I thought wrong.” Chika seemed like she was going to say something, but the student council president beat her too it. “I am here to make sure all of you understand exactly how idiotic and dangerous this idea is.”

Yoshiko was speaking before she could stop herself. “Well even just living in this town is idiotic and dangerous then!” The student council president turned to face Yoshiko then, her gaze cold and Yoshiko couldn’t stop herself from shivering

“That doesn’t mean I will allow this club to exist. If you try to, what _understand_ these sorts of things, the only thing you will find is your own deaths. This is not some sort of game. I will not allow students at this school to kill themselves by looking into things beyond them.” She turned around and walked out of the room, only pausing to for a second, “Ruby, follow me,” and then moving on. Ruby complied, only letting out a weak “Onee-chan” before following her sister.

Hanamaru was the only one still outside of the room, shock clear on her face. She probably did not expect something like that. Maybe she thought it would have been more, “this is childish” than “you will all die if you do this”. “S-she was j-joking right?” Hanamaru’s voice was trembling. Yoshiko couldn’t say anything, but You could. “She wasn’t. It’s not particularly safe to haunt a monster.” The grin on You’s face was brittle, in a way that greatly upset Yoshiko for a reason she didn’t know.

“We have too. Even if it’s dangerous. Kanan isn’t doing anything and I don’t think Dia is going to either. Not until people start dying at least. And from everything Kanan’s told me… if something got out of that forest, people are going to start dying.” Chika’s voice was quiet, but the whole room could hear it. That girl really was nicer than Yoshiko could ever be.

“T-this is silly. None of that is real! What are you even talking about people won’t die! This is crazy.” And with that, Hanamaru stormed away.

“So… I guess we gotta figure out how to kill a monster then?” The smile on You’s face was surprisingly warm now. “Yeah…. Are we sure that whatever made that hole actually left the forest?” Yoshiko’s voice was slightly hoarse as she spoke. Riko was the one that broke the silence this time. “It makes sense to assume that it did. If… if nothing happens, we can rest easy but otherwise we have to assume that.”

“What can we even do? If it really is some sort of monster… what are a bunch of high schoolers going to be able to do against it?” Yoshiko was surprised to find that she was the one who was speaking.

“We’ll talk to Kanan first. See if she can help us. And then we can try and find out wherever it is and see what we can do about it.” Chika really was a blessing and Yoshiko was incredibly glad to have her as part of the club. Without her, Yoshiko would have no idea how to even tackle this, let alone for reasons as altruistic as Chika’s were.

The bell rang then, and the girls started to depart. Yoshiko remembered to get their phone numbers, and LINE ids, setting up a club group chat before she left. Riko and Chika went first, You telling them to go on ahead.

Yoshiko looked up from her phone to face You. The girl had a look of determination on her face, that was quite well… it was hot, and Yoshiko could feel a blush tint her cheeks. “Dia wasn’t wrong when she said we would probably die, you know?”

“Y-yeah…. I know.” Yoshiko spoke softly. “Are you sure you still wanna join the club. It’ll be fine if you take Chika with you. I… I can see how much you care about her. Me and Riko are kind of in this no matter what. But the both of you don’t need to d-“ You laughed, an almost surprisingly light laugh.

“Nah. Chika’s been more focused and into this than she has been with anything else in years. And you and Riko are starting to grow on me. I gotta be here to make sure none of us die.” You said it with such conviction that Yoshiko fully believed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I worry I made You ooc but well none of the girls in the show ever have to deal with anything quite like this so I feel like I have a lot of allowances for characters being out-of-character. 
> 
> This chapter is the actual start of the first arc, or at least that's how im thinking about it. the first two are mostly just introductory chapters. Also stuff will get lighter eventually. Despite this technically being a horror, it will be fluffy in the future and the girls will have fun. It's just gonna take a lot to get there. And to make sure it stays there.
> 
> Also with this chapter the updates are probably gonna start slowing down. I can't promise a consistent schedule, but I can promise that chapters are coming. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed.


End file.
